WordGirl
This article is about the character. For other uses, see WordGirl (disambiguation). WordGirl is the main protagonist and heroine of the series of the same name. Her secret identity is mild-mannered fifth-grader Becky Botsford, but whenever evil arises, she instantly becomes WordGirl by placing her hand to her chest and exclaiming, "Word up!". Her trademark insignia consists of a red star imposed on a golden shield. She seems to have a fondness for maroon, as both her WordGirl and Becky forms wear it. WordGirl is extremely popular in Fair City, which she protects, and there has been much merchandising and celebrating of the heroine. She has even received many (over 200) keys to the city. Background WordGirl was born on the planet Lexicon, and as an infant accidentally wandered onto a spaceship, which was piloted by Captain Huggy Face. While he was driving the spaceship, WordGirl woke and startled him, making them hit an asteroid and forcing him to crash land on Earth in order to save the both of them. However, neither of them have tried to return to Lexicon since. WordGirl was then adopted by Tim and Sally Botsford, who at that point had no children of their own (though later they had their own kid, T.J. Botsford, who would be her brother), and she was given the name "Becky." Captain Huggy Face was also "adopted" as a pet and given the name "Bob." The downed spaceship remained in the same spot and would then be used as WordGirl's secret hideout. She grew up in a normal life, though she displayed her keen intelligence at an early age - she was found on the Botsford's doorstep as a baby reading their newspaper (even though in one flashback, she was found in the woods). Sooner or later, she took up the identity of WordGirl. She has the entire dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment's notice. Physical Appearance WordGirl/Becky Botsford has shoulder-length dark brown hair that curls up at the ends and bangs with a small gap in the center. She has light brown skin and her face is circular. She, like everyone else in the show (with the exception of Dr. Two-Brains), does not have a specific eye color, except for times that she is under mind control (e.g., in the episode "The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour"). As Becky Botsford, she wears a cream colored shirt under a V-necked green sweater with a purple skirt and a matching headband. She wears cream colored knee socks with black and white saddle shoes. As WordGirl, she wears her superhero outfit, with her red star emblazoned on a golden shield on her chest. She has a golden cape, a 2-way communication belt, and dark red boots and gloves. Secret identity WordGirl finds it hard to keep her identities separate, often making slips, but thankfully no one notices. In truth, she does very little to disguise her true identity. Her helmet does absolutely nothing to hide her face or her distinctive hairstyle, and Becky is the only other person in town shown with a monkey sidekick. The fact that it is made so obvious to the viewing audience actually adds to the comic element of the series. Only a few times have people guessed or discovered her secret. Each time, however, she manages to put them off the truth. One of the most serious times her secret has been exposed is in the episode "Two-Brains Forgets", when Dr. Two-Brains overhears a conversation between Becky and Bob regarding new WordGirl and Huggy costumes. Through a fortunate turn of events, his memory of this event is later erased. In "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", Becky confesses to being WordGirl to her father and brother (in spite of Bob's protests) after feeling that she has hidden it from them for too long... but neither of them believe her. Tobey also guesses that Becky is WordGirl due to her possessing the remote to his robots, but she convinces him otherwise by the means of a clever plan between her and Huggy. Those who do learn the truth about Becky/WordGirl are: * Violet's cat Priscilla watches Becky transform into WordGirl in "Tobey's Tricks and Treats". However, since she is a cat, this does not present any real threat to WordGirl's secret. * The mailman is able to witness Becky's super-strength in "Earth Day Girl" when he delivers an absurdly large package to her door, and even sees her flying around in excitement when he walks past the window. However, he dismisses it saying, "I'm just a letter carrier, so I won't give it another thought." * Becky's grandfather Bampy realizes she is really WordGirl in the episode "Bampy Battles Bots". He reveals this to her at the end of the episode, telling her that her secret was safe with him. * Scoops finds out her secret identity in "Invasion of The Bunny Lovers". Although referring to this discovery as "the scoop of the century," in the end he decides it is best to keep it a secret. * Rose uses investigative reporting to figure out who she is in "News Girl". Scoop persuades her not to reveal WordGirl's secret identity. * Violet finally learns that her best friend Becky is WordGirl in "Rhyme and Reason (episode)". Powers and Abilities *'Supernatural Intellect: ' Despite her young age, Becky possess a vast intellect, as she outsmarts others with genius intellect, has knowledge in robotics, as well as a comprehensive Vocabulary as she has the entire dictionary memorized and is able to define any given word at a moment's notice. She knows most hieroglyphics as well. *'Lexiconian Physiology: ' Normally, like all Lexiconians, Becky is able to perform various inhuman feats. ** Super-Hearing: ' WordGirl often hears alarms or screaming people from across the city because her hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency. ** '''Enhanced Vision: ' WordGirl's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus. ** 'Flight: ' WordGirl is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction. ** 'Supernatural Speed: ' WordGirl can fly at hyper-sonic speeds, She commonly uses her speed to appear and disappear faster than people can notice, as well as to somehow change in or out of her suit in seconds. She also has the ability of speed reading. *** 'Supernatural Reflexes: ' WordGirl's reflexes are so fast, she can respond to attacks within seconds. ** '''Supernatural Strength: WordGirl's strength is enhanced while not limitless, the extent of her super strength is undetermined; making her among the strongest terrestrial beings, allowing her lift or press objects or structures that are larger than herself, such as planes or ships. ** Cold Breath: WordGirl is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs. ** Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, WordGirl is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. Although she can still catch colds and hiccups. ** 'Sonic Scream: ' WordGirl can release a highly destructive stream of ecto-energy from her vocal cords and mouth. Weaknesses *Her powers are disrupted by Lexonite, a substance from her home planet Lexicon. In the episode "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", it makes her weak and disrupts her ability to define words correctly. In the episode "Gift Pony", it not only saps her power but she has an allergic reaction to it. *Her love of Pretty Princess can be considered a weakness for her, since it takes away her focus from crime fighting on certain occasions, such as in the episode "Showdown at the Secret Spaceship Hideout". It can be said that also allows her to be hypnotized by Mr. Big in the episode "The Pretty Princess and Mr. Big Power Hour". *She is suspicious to almost everything. This is revealed when she sees Mr. Big's yo-yos and Tiny Big performing, she believes that she knows better and is more smart than most people in Fair City. Same thing occurs when Mr Big runs for Mayor, she is the only one who can see through him. *When first meeting Reginald, after getting Huggy to kiss him, she wants to prove to the high society and rich old people, including Reginald, to show that she knows better and is more smart than them when, in reality, she should have been polite to Reginald. Age * She states that her age is 10 and a half when interviewed by Jim Lehrer which occurred prior to August 2007. It aired when WordGirl was only in a series of shorts, and prior to the main TV series. This means that in real-life time, many of the events of the first season are actually flashbacks which would have occurred during 2006 and aired a year later. * She celebrates her birthday in the episode "Becky's Birthday" (which aired September 2007). The cake in this episode has no candles and her age is not mentioned. * In the episode "Department Store Tobey" WordGirl lets slip that Becky is 10. This would mean she is 9 prior to the events of 4b. * In the episode "Great Granny May" she tells Granny May's mother that she is 10 and a half. * She states having recently turned 10½ in "Slumber Party Pooper". * She celebrates another birthday in season three's "A World Without WordGirl" (which aired December 2011). The cake in this episode has 11 candles, and occurs after episode 11, making her 11 years old past this point. This does not appear in the series, but a year later, she turns 12. Becky Botsford As Becky Botsford, she attends Woodview Elementary and has a few friends. Her closest friends include Violet Heaslip and Todd "Scoops" Ming (whom she has a crush on). Akin to her relationship with her as WordGirl, Becky finds a rival in Tobey McCallister III , who tries to outdo her (as well as everyone else) constantly in events such as Field Day or elections. In season three, her newest rival is Victoria Best, a girl who is "the best at everything she does" according to her parents. Becky's intelligence is astonishing for a ten-and-a-half year-old girl, but her skills do not go into every field. While she has an excellent vocabulary, is well-read, and enjoys geography, she is a poor artist, cannot dance, and cannot sing. She also is not very good at charades (see the episode "Meat with a Side of Cute" for reference). She is a great fan of "The Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour" TV show as well as the Princess Triana books, even dressing up as the Pretty Princess for Halloween in the episode "Tobey's Tricks and Treats". Becky also has a great love for unicorns and has a big collection of them in her room. One of these, named Angelface, gets broken a number of times throughout the series, much to her anger. Gallery Click to see the full gallery. Trivia finding her as a baby.]] * On the official WordGirl website, it used to state on WordGirl's profile that when she was an infant, she was found on the Botsford's front steps reading their newspaper. However, in the episode "WordGirl Makes a Mistake", while telling Mr. Botsford and TJ she's WordGirl, she says the Botsfords found her in the woods with Huggy. * By age 2 she was completing crossword puzzles * In addition to the English dictionary, she knows most hieroglyphics as well. * The official Soup2Nuts website stateshttp://www.soup2nuts.tv/word_girl.html "WordGirl - PBS KIDS GO! (2007-present) When trouble strikes, 9-year-old Becky Botsford transforms into WordGirl, a crime-fighting superhero who defends truth and justice… one word at a time." It states WordGirl to be nine years old, rather than ten. This was originally correct for the shorts and episodes 1-4a, however she is 10 for most of the series and recently turned 11. * WordGirl is said to be an affectionate parody of Superman, due to them both having similar powers, coming to Earth as infants, and being vulnerable to radioactive fragments from their home world. References Category:Botsfords Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Heroes Category:Lexiconians Category:Main Characters Category:Kids Category:Grammar-Themed Villians Category:Grammar-Themed Characters Category:Girls